The Critical Path: An Essay On The Social Context Of Literary Criticism
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Good
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image
What is the true purpose of literature, and what role does criticism play in the fabric of society? In The Critical Path: An Essay on the Social Context of Literary Criticism, the towering Canadian critic Northrop Frye argues that literary criticism is not a mere academic exercise but a vital social act, one that stands at the crossroads of mythology, ideology, and human freedom. With characteristic intellectual sweep, Frye presents a systematic framework for understanding how literature both shapes and is shaped by the myths and concerns of the civilization that produces it, positioning the critic as a mediator between the imaginative world of art and the practical demands of social life. Drawing on the grand theoretical architecture he first constructed in his landmark Anatomy of Criticism, Frye illustrates the tension between what he calls the myth of concern — the ideological pressures that societies impose on their members — and the myth of freedom, the liberating potential of the literary imagination. His prose is assured, erudite, and ambitious, synthesizing decades of thought into a cohesive and provocative manifesto for the humanities. A cornerstone of twentieth-century critical theory, this work leaves the reader questioning not just how we read literature, but why civilization cannot afford to stop.
Author: Northrop Frye
Format: Paperback
Genre: Literary theory
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Good
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image
What is the true purpose of literature, and what role does criticism play in the fabric of society? In The Critical Path: An Essay on the Social Context of Literary Criticism, the towering Canadian critic Northrop Frye argues that literary criticism is not a mere academic exercise but a vital social act, one that stands at the crossroads of mythology, ideology, and human freedom. With characteristic intellectual sweep, Frye presents a systematic framework for understanding how literature both shapes and is shaped by the myths and concerns of the civilization that produces it, positioning the critic as a mediator between the imaginative world of art and the practical demands of social life. Drawing on the grand theoretical architecture he first constructed in his landmark Anatomy of Criticism, Frye illustrates the tension between what he calls the myth of concern — the ideological pressures that societies impose on their members — and the myth of freedom, the liberating potential of the literary imagination. His prose is assured, erudite, and ambitious, synthesizing decades of thought into a cohesive and provocative manifesto for the humanities. A cornerstone of twentieth-century critical theory, this work leaves the reader questioning not just how we read literature, but why civilization cannot afford to stop.